Back Being A Pain For Johnson

It happens every spring.

This time, pitcher Randy Johnson’s annual back troubles hit him a bit harder than usual, which is the first notable medical problem in what has been Camp Tranquility for the Seattle Mariners.

Nonetheless, according to trainer Rick Griffin, there is no reason to worry.

“He usually gets his back problem four to five days into camp,” Griffin said. “This hurt him a bit more than other years but hopefully he’ll only be out two or three days.”

Almost since the first day of the current training camp, the ace left-hander said his back felt tight. “Same thing every year,” Johnson said. “I just try to deal with it.”

Sunday, however, was the chilliest of camp and Johnson lunged to tag outfielder Luis Polonia during run-down drills early in the day. “That actually may have been when he twinged his back,” Griffin said.

Later, however, Johnson pitched his normal, every-other-day batting practice and joked to the hitters, “Better get on your batting helmets.”

Johnson was working out in the weight room after leaving the field when his back went into spasm. He was examined by Dr. Mitch Storey and Dr. Larry Pedegana, team physicians who were in camp to conduct physicals. They found nothing on Monday that would prevent him from pitching within a week.

“We’ve seen the same thing with Randy’s back before,” Pedegana said. “This may be a bit more severe than in the past. It doesn’t appear that there’s any trouble with a disk.”

Age before talent

After manager Lou Piniella had explained why pitchers Johnson and rookie Greg McCarthy had been held back from pitching drills, he added that another pitcher - veteran Lee Guetterman - was being brought along cautiously. Why? “His body,” explained Piniella. “It’s 38 years old.”

Notes

When exhibition games begin Thursday, the first four ‘A’ game starting pitchers will be Paul Menhardt, Sterling Hitchcock, Bob Wolcott and Matt Wagner. If Johnson is medically cleared, he’ll pitch Sunday. The way the pitching plans have been laid, everyone in camp will have pitched in an ‘A’ or ‘B’ game by Sunday except Norm Charlton. “He threw breaking balls for the first time today, and there’s no rush with him,” Piniella said. Charlton agreed: “It’s not like I’ve got to make this team in the first three days. My preference is to work on the sidelines early, work into games later.”

The Mariners have given pitcher Salomon Torres back the full windup the Giants took away from him when he pitched with San Francisco. After watching Torres and breaking down video of his delivery, coaches felt Torres hid the ball better and kept his balance while working from the windup instead of the stretch.

Remember the rumor that Seattle was interested in Darryl Strawberry? The interest was real, but short-lived. “Whoever plays left field has to be our leadoff man,” Piniella said. “We don’t have anyone else on the team who fits that role. Strawberry would have had to play left.” He won’t, so Luis Polonia and Rich Amaral will platoon there.